After “Hong Kong Chronicle”, another website is suspected to be banned. Recently, several local network providers are unable to connect to the official website of Taiwan Committee for the Promotion of Transitional Justice, and can only log in through virtual private networks (VPN) via servers in Germany, the United States and other overseas countries, and it is unknown whether the network is “blocked”.
Recently, a number of local network providers were unable to connect to the official website of the Committee for the Promotion of Transitional Justice in Taiwan, including SmarTone, Hong Kong Broadband, Hong Kong Telecom, 3 and China Mobile, etc. All of them showed “Unable to connect to this website”, and could only be accessed through virtual private networks (VPN) via servers in Germany, the United States and other overseas countries. It is not known whether the “blocked network”. The Security Bureau said it would not comment on any speculation about police enforcement action.
Internet media Standpoint News reported the incident tonight, and Apple Daily also found that the fixed-line broadband, such as Hong Kong Broadband, Hong Kong Telecom and Online Shop, were unable to connect to the official website of Taiwan’s Council for the Promotion of Transformational Justice (https://www.tjc.gov.tw); as for cell phone network providers including SmarTone, Freebird, 3 and China Mobile, the situation was the same, all showing “Unable to connect to this website”. The situation was the same for mobile phone network providers, including SmarTone, Freebird, 3 and China Mobile, all showing “Unable to connect to this website”.
The reporter then tried to log in to the website via VPN, and was able to connect to the website via servers in the United States and Germany, but was unable to do so via Japan, the Czech Republic and Canada. As for the Facebook page of the Council for the Promotion of Transfer, it can still be connected through local network providers for the Time being. The Security Bureau replied that it would not comment on any speculation about police enforcement actions.
The Taiwan Council for the Promotion of Transitional Justice was established in May 2018 as a second-tier independent body under the Taiwan Legislative Yuan. According to its Facebook page, the council is a task force set up by the Executive Yuan to implement transitional justice affairs, “in the hope of achieving the goal of confronting the truth of the authoritarian rule period and deepening social dialogue.”
According to the information, the Council has 9 members, who are nominated by the Executive President and appointed with the consent of the Legislative Yuan. According to its website, the Council was established with five main objectives, including planning and promoting the opening of political archives; removing symbols of authoritarianism and preserving sites of injustice; vindicating judicial wrongdoing, restoring historical truths, and promoting social reconciliation; the handling and use of improper party assets, and other matters of transitional justice.
In 2018, the Association requested the Ministry of National Defense to conduct an inventory of “removing symbols of authority and preserving sites of injustice,” including bronze statues of Chiang Kai-shek placed in universities or public places. The council has made recommendations on how to deal with the statues and effigies of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo, which may include removal, artistic conversion, and conversion of local historical memory.
In addition, many people in Taiwan have been jailed in the past for their speech or political orientation, the Council for the Promotion of Transfer had published a list of criminal conviction revocation in 2019, the members of that year’s “Beautiful Island” magazine, such as former Vice President Lu Hsiu-lien, the Secretary General of the Presidential Office Chen Ju and the former Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party Shih Ming-teh will be revoked for the crime of rebellion, to clear their names.
It is not the first time that a website has been blocked in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Chronicle, a website that documents police abuses in the anti-amendment movement and contains personal information on police officers and officials, was blocked by the police last month, citing the National Security Law, which requires Internet service providers to block the site.
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